In general, a conventional upright vacuum cleaner draws in dust and dirt along with air by using a suction force generated by its cleaner body, and thus cleans the surface to be cleaned, such as a floor, a carpet or the like.
Such a conventional upright vacuum cleaner is provided with the cleaner body and a suction assembly. The suction assembly is installed at a lower part of the cleaner body and moves over the surface to be cleaned. The cleaner body has a dust collecting unit and a motor chamber. The dust collecting unit is located inside the cleaner body and collects the dust or dirt drawn in from the surface to be cleaned. The motor chamber provides a mount for a suction motor below the dust collecting unit.
However, in the conventional upright vacuum cleaner, the cleaner body is hinged to the suction assembly and cannot be separated therefrom. Accordingly, if the conventional vacuum cleaner is cleaning a narrow surface, such as a stairway, a gap, or the like, several problems occur. For example, the conventional vacuum cleaner is difficult to move because the cleaner body is integrally formed with the suction assembly. Also, cleaning is more difficult due to the weight of the cleaner. Further, to clean a narrow area with a conventional vacuum cleaner, a user has to either purchase a subsidiary brush or an accessory for the conventional vacuum cleaner or purchase an entirely separate canister vacuum cleaner.
To address the problems described above, as described in Korean Patent No. 474083 to the present applicant, a vacuum cleaner is configured so that the cleaner body is separable from the vacuum cleaner, thereby allowing the vacuum cleaner to be used as both a canister vacuum cleaner and an upright vacuum cleaner. However, such a vacuum cleaner with a separable cleaner body has a comparatively larger size because supporting members on which the cleaner body is mounted must necessarily be larger than the circumference of the cleaner body.
Also, accessories for the vacuum cleaner are often mounted on the rear of the cleaner body and not on the supporting members on which the cleaner body is mounted. The accessories are mounted on the rear of the cleaner body to reduce the overall size of the vacuum cleaner. However, an extended hose is also often mounted in the rear of the cleaner body, thereby limiting the number of accessories that may be mounted on the cleaner body.
Moreover, when the cleaner body is separated from the supporting members, the accessories are also moved, even if they are not in use, because they are mounted on the cleaner body. As a result, if the surface or area to be cleaned is confined or narrow, the accessories mounted on the cleaner body must be removed prior to accessing the area to be cleaned, thus disrupting the cleaning operation.